Washington DC (US)

US Department of Treasury on Saturday announced that its office of Foreign Assets Control issued general licenses authorizing certain activities involving Venezuelan-origin minerals.

The move, it said, was aimed at bringing the Venezuelan economy back.

In a post on X, the US Treasury Office said, "Under US President Donald Trump's leadership, over the past two months Treasury has been working at lightspeed to bring the Venezuelan economy back online and reorient investment to benefit Americans and Venezuelans. Continuing that work, today the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued general licenses authorizing certain activities involving Venezuelan-origin minerals."

Meanwhile, Former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is set to return to a New York courtroom as he seeks to have his drug trafficking indictment dismissed, as per Al Jazeera.

Thursday marks the first time that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, will be in court since a January arraignment at which he protested his abduction by United States military forces and pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, remain jailed at a detention centre in Brooklyn. Neither has requested bail. Judge Alvin Hellerstein has yet to set a trial date, though that could potentially be announced at the hearing, Al Jazeera reported.

Maduro, who has led Venezuela since 2013, was abducted in Caracas by US Special Forces on January 3.

His lawyer contends that Washington is violating the deposed leader's constitutional rights by blocking Venezuelan government funds from being used to pay his legal costs, Al Jazeera reported.

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The former president and Flores continue to enjoy some support in Venezuela, with murals and billboards across the capital, Caracas, demanding their return, as per Al Jazeera.

However, while Maduro's ruling party remains in control, he himself has been gradually sidelined within the government led by acting President Delcy Rodriguez.